#the last battalion sabaton

[ashen--dreams]

she rivals the last stand tbh

[idonthaveanaccent]

Just a little rambling and then a few bands I really like and you should totally check out, so expand it if you wanna see them :)

I know this isn’t a normal update, I just have to talk about this with someone.

Music is a vital part of everyday life for me. Everything I do has a backtrack. If I’m not watching a show in my room, I have to have music playing. When I write I have headphones in, blasting music, like right now. To go to sleep and sleep easily I have to play music, ever since I was young I’ve done it. I can’t remember not falling asleep without music playing. Music even helps inspire what I write. 

Point is, I love music. 

However, I am extremely uncomfortable with sharing my music. My freshman year I was made fun of the type of music I listen to, which has evolved a bit in the 3-4 years since that time, however it hasn’t ventured too far. 

When I was eleven my parents gave me a windows phone with no sim card, but it had a music app. They downloaded a bunch of child friendly songs and it was the first time I could control what I listened to. Before I had an old MP3 which was filled with Disney songs, Anamaniacs tunes, and ABBA’s Golden Hits. I can sing all them by heart, dances are a fun time for me. Now, I could look up songs. 

My best friend was into the alternative scene as her sister is six years older than us and as such had a more ‘adult’ music sense. She introduced me to the classic bands, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, etc. I loved their music, we’d listen to it on the bus to middle school. However, as time went on, I began expanding my music taste. I got into My Three Days Grace, Shinedown, and other similar bands. Then, Freshman year came.

I remember the moment clear as day. I was working on my photography notebook the week before finals like the dumbass I was am, with Pandora open and listening to one of the many radios. Then, a song came on. It was by a band I hadn’t heard of before. It was called Bad Company, and the band was called Five Finger Death Punch. Now, little fourteen year old me was a little shocked by the name but the song wasn’t unlike anything I’d heard before. I decided I liked that song and favorited it.

A little while later more of their songs began popping up, but they were a little different. Heavier. Angrier. And I loved it. I don’t know what it was about the gruff vocals or pounding drum beats or glorious guitar solos, but I was hooked. I then moved onto Spotify and listened to their albums, headbanging all the way. This was my first experience with Metal, and you better believe I was a fan.

As time went on I explored more bands. Alesana, Asking Alexandria, Crown the Empire, A Day to Remember, Halestorm, Ghost, etc. I tried showing people my favorite bands but they made fun of my music taste, mimicking their screams whenever I looked up. It was disheartening, and I never wanted to share it again. Not until I knew they were okay with it. I had people tell me they were scared of that music, and asked me to never play it in front of them. You can see how that would make me never want to tell anyone about it, right? Well, I kept it to myself, electing to share music with only a few people, one being my friend. She always jokes about how she showed me Fall Out Boy and all them and then lost me along the way. 

During Junior year I discovered even more bands, including one of my favorites, Ice Nine Kills. Amazing band, you should definitely check them out, but the advertising comes later. My music taste also diversified a little and I began listening to softer bands, like grandson and The Ghost Club. 

Now, to the main show. My recent music taste.

It all began with one Instagram video. A meme video that really isn’t all that funny. I was actually just looking through what I saved and it happened to be in a  really small folder, so I clicked it. Here is the exact video

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by positive memes (@positive_and_negative_memes) on Feb 23, 2019 at 6:14pm PST

So I was interested the song and band and decided to look them up. What I found was simply...amazing.

Okay, here comes the advertising of my favorite bands :)

I. Gloryhammer

The first Power Metal band I discovered and still my favorite. Here’s how Gloryhammer describes themselves:

“And lo, Planet Earth had been destroyed by the Hootsman, with an explosion so powerful it ripped a hole in the very fabric of spacetime. And yet, Zargothrax was still not defeated, for he managed to use his last shreds of power to escape through the dimensional rift. Vowing to defeat the evil sorcerer, Angus McFife XIII followed him into the portal, with no idea where it might lead…“

That may seem confusing, and it is, but trust me, when I tell you a bit more, it will all make sense. 

So Gloryhammer is one of the best bands I have ever heard before. Their concept is absolute gold and is the only of its kind I’ve seen before. Basically, every single one of their songs tells a story of the Land of Fife. The Lead singer (Thomas Winkler) is Prince Angus McFife (the 1st and 13th), keyboard/backing vocals (Christopher Bowes) is the Evil Sorcerer Zargothrax, guitar/backing vocals (Paul Templing) is Sir Proletiues, leader of the warriors of Crail, drums (Ben Turk) is the Ancient Hermit Ralathor, and last but never least is bass/backing vocals (James Cartwright), the Mighty Hootsman! 

Each album follows a part in the epic saga, with three in total. The first album tells the story of the original Angus McFife the I whereas the next two follow his ancestor, Anguc McFife XIII. I don't want to give too much spoilers but let's just say that all three are filled with so much creativity and twists that it’s like listening to a movie! I cant even express how if you are looking for something to listen to that has dragons, goblin kings, evil sorcerers, hammers, and space, then this is the band for you! 

I am going to put one song by them down because you can only have five and I’m big mad about it.

Gloryhammer - Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex

So yeah, that’s band numero uno!

II. Sabaton

What is there to say about Sabaton that hasn’t already been said... 

Unlike Gloryhammer, Sabaton is older, formed in the nineties. Here’s what they say about themselves on their website:

“In the nearly two decades since their launch, Swedish metallers Sabaton have carved out a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the business – gaining a legion of loyal fans across the globe, delivering eight highly-rated studio albums (including two certified platinum-sellers), and scoring multiple industry award wins and nominations… not to mention launching their own annual festival and cruise.

Combining soaring power riffs with vocalist Joakim Brodén’s instantly-recognisable gruff baritone, the band refuses to be simply slotted into a genre. Fans need only know them as Sabaton: the heavy metal band that sings of real life wars and the people who played a part in them – of gruelling campaigns and dazzling acts of bravery, of magnificent victories and touching personal struggles – true stories more fantastic than any fiction,”

Sabaton is, as they stated, a band dedicated to sharing stories of true battles throughout history. On their website they even have a whole calendar dedicated to historic events, so you can see what happened in history on whatever day you’d like! 

As a huge history geek, this band is amazing. I would watch the World War documentary series before I went to bed in middle school because I thought all of that stuff was so interesting. If I didn’t love writing and English as much as I do then I’d go into a career where history was involved. They were actually a part of my Spotify Wrapped this year where I explored 27 of their songs, listened to six of their albums, and spent over 39 hours listening to just them this year. 

Unlike what I did before, I am just going to showcase three of my favorite songs by them because they have way too many albums and I’m sad to say I didn’t listen to all of them. 

The Lost Battalion - The Last Stand

Now, onto the third band and a good one too!

III. Powerwolf

I’m not a religious person, I grew up being taught all that stuff but I consider myself to be more agnostic rather than Christian or any of that stuff. But, if there’s one religious thing I don’t mind bumping its the Priests of Metal, Powerwolf! Here's what they have to say about themselves:

“After spilling gallons of blood and fighting tirelessly, after only two albums with Napalm Powerwolf shot straight to the pole position of the official German album charts (and another album made it into the top three!). After selling out venue after venue and thrilling bigger and bigger hordes of fans, the time is right for a new chapter: The Sacrament Of Sin which offers eleven metal psalms forged for all eternity!

Powerwolf entered Fascination Street Studios in Örebrö, Sweden starting in January 2018 to work on their seventh manifesto together with renowned producer Jens Bogren (Opeth, Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth). The result is brimming with the Germans` trademark sound, and yet the band have recorded their boldest and most adventurous album to date! ‘Where the wild wolves have gone‘ even marks the first ballad in Powerwolf history – whereas ‘Nightside of Siberia‘ does the exact opposite and turns out to be one of the heaviest tunes the fivepiece have ever written. ‘Incense And Iron‘ simply MUST be part of every future setlist with its folky nature and anthemic catchiness; and epic single ‘Fire & Forgive‘ brilliantly melts infectious melodies into timeless, heavy shredding. The Sacrament Of Sin overwhelms both with sophisticated songwriting and sheer aggression – and proves once more why Powerwolf are the one and only true high priests of heavy metal!,”

The band is made up of vocalist  Karsten Brill as "Attila Dorn", lead guitarist Benjamin Buss as "Matthew Greywolf", bassist/rhythm guitarist David Vogt as "Charles Greywolf", keyboardist Christian Jost as "Falk Maria Schlegel" and drummer Roel van Helden. 

They’re really awesome and here’s my favorite song by them.

Army of the Night - Blessed and Possessed 

Now onto the fourth band ;)...

IV. Brothers of Metal

Oh boy, if you thought the bands might’ve mellowed out a little then you are sorely unprepared for this glorious group...

When I was younger I was one of those Percy Jackson kids, but my love for mythology started long before I read one of those books. As I grew older I expanded my knowledge, moving away from Greek and Roman and into Norse and other mythologies. You can imagine my joy when I found Brothers of Metal. They have no Wikipedia or website so here’s what Spotify says about them:

“BROTHERS OF METAL consist of eight powerful Viking warriors that originates from the glorious kingdom of Falun, far up in the north. Falun is a mighty town that lies within the dark iron woods where only true metal warriors reside. BROTHERS OF METAL are known to most as the strongest metal band in the nine realms. 

Before time, our eight warriors would travel through the realms and protect the good folk against evil. It was one of those nights that the legacy of metal was born. They came home from some pretty intense giant slaying and felt the common urge for mead and entertainment. The mead was generously flowing from the teats of Heidrun, but the music was really bad. The warriors took what instruments they could find and started playing, thus they wrote their first song Son of Odin, creating a tribute hymn to the strongest god they knew. 

The mortals of the kingdom was so impressed with the music that they couldn't get enough, our warriors looked at each other and so a band was formed. Together they swor an oath to keep the flames of true metal burning and to continue to play until the earthlings had worthy entertainment of their own, it's yet to come,” 

They haven’t released a ton of music when compared to the bands I listed before them, but they are absolutely amazing! All their music videos make me chuckle and when I watch Q&A’s they’ve posted they feel so down to earth that a person whos probably a decade younger than them if not less/more can relate to them. All their music has to do with Norse Mythology, but here’s my favorite music video yet:

The Mead Song - Prophecy of Ragnarök

And yeah, that’s it!

I hope you all weren't too bored and I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed this. It feels good to talk about my favorite bands. I’d love to put more videos in but Tumblr won’t let you so I guess we’re stuck with only one per band. I planned on doing three each but I guess that’s dead in the water. 

Oh well.

If you like any of this music/band honestly just reach out and talk to me, I love chatting about music. I don’t know a ton about the logistics or anything like that but we can share bands or songs or whatever. I sound really lonely which is true but please don’t feel shy.

See you all later! 

-Paige

[cwjb]

Album Review: ‘The Last Stand’- How Sabaton Brings History to Life

Since forming in 1999 and kicking off their career with their second album, ‘Primo Victoria’ in 2004, the Swedish heavy metal band has rocked the world with songs of historical events of war and heroism.  

It has been seen in recent years that many people, young and old, are forgetting major historic events such as the holocaust or believe them to be false/exaggerated. This unfortunately plays into the saying ‘Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it’ today as we see such atrocities being repeated once more. 

However, that is not to say that is inevitable. Despite what is said, many are aware of the history of our past and continue to learn with each passing day. It is with this concern though that Sabaton’s music is more than just great music, but a medium to which we can grasp history and learn from it. The band has stated that “People have told us that they passed their history exams in school because of our songs." 

A claim that is easy to see when one listens to their songs and the lyrics. However, as there are numerous songs that I could happily talk about such as the song about the all-female Russian bomber regiment, ‘Night Witches’ or the song of Germany’s first Bismarck-class battleship, ‘Bismarck’, I will instead talk about the songs in the album ‘The Last Stand’. However, if you’re interested in the historical context behind their songs that are not mentioned, you can visit their website to learn more. From here on all though, all the songs that I will be going over the first five songs of the album cover at the top of this blog post. 

Sparta is the first song of the album that blares out with a roar of chants and drums. The main singer retelling the Battle of Thermopylae as the choir that follows into the chorus soon after gives you the vibe of a legion of warriors standing defiantly against the horde of Persians. 

This song is based upon the story of the ‘300 Spartans’ that was recorded by the Greek historian about the defense of the Greek army’s retreat spearheaded by the Spartans against the chasing forces of the Persian army. 

Last Dying Breath follows Sparta with a blaze of glory much like the defenders of Belgrade in their ferocity to protect their homeland at all costs. A fitting followup from the previous song from the distant past to a more modern representation of the will to protect their homeland. The song is based on Dragutin Gavrilović, a Serbian major in WWI who issued a last stand against the Austro-Hungarian army at Danube. 

Blood Of Bannockburn appears next in the album with bagpipes, guitars, and drums with an upbeat, rock tone in a pump up manner. The music is quite fitting as the lyrics tell of the Battle of Bannockburn where the Scottish clans united to rebel against the English crown.

Diary Of An Unknown Soldier which transmissions smoothly into The Lost Battalion sets the groundwork of the struggle of the 77th Division behind the German lines as they find themselves cut off from all sides. The situation was hard as their supplies dwindled, but the music along with the lyrics greatly portray their determination to stay strong even in such a dire situation and persevere until they were saved by a pigeon delivering a message to their allies. 

Rorke's Drift is the last song to cover and it starts with a quickening beat that soon turns into a torrent as the lyrics come around. The song is based on the  Battle of Rorke's Drift where the British forces of around 150 men defended against the 3000 Zulu warriors as they streamed down upon the encampment. The beat and drums set the tone of an intense defensive versus offensive assault as both sides struggle to overcome the other. 

All of these songs showcase major events in history and of the heroics of those who committed acts of courage in the face of certain defeat. Needless to say, I believe Sabaton is one of the greatest bands in modern times due to not just only their music, but the telling of historic events that many would otherwise have never heard of. 

Sources:

The Last Stand by Sabaton

Primo Victoria by Sabaton

Holocaust Study Claims People Are Forgetting by David Rancken

China Uighurs: A model's video gives a rare glimpse inside internment by BBC’s John Sudworth

Sabaton: "People have told us that they passed their history exams in school because of our songs" by guitarworld.com

Night Witches Pt. 2 – Female Soldiers – Sabaton History 069 by Sabaton

Bismarck by Sabaton

Wikipedia Links: 

Battle of Thermopylae

Dragutin Gavrilović

Battle of Bannockburn

Lost Battalion (World War I)

Battle of Rorke's Drift

[lothricknightgirl]

Song I like (Part 4)

Hey, there are a lot of words under the thing. Let me know if any of these are repeats.

Here's A Health To The Company - Colm Mcguinness

The Last Length - Colm Mcguinness

On The Railroad - The Longest Johns

The Kraken - Hans Zimmer

Abandon Ship - Subnautica Soundtrack

How 4000 Hours Of War Thunder Feels - ZoltanSultan

Ode To Fury - Miracle of Sound

Accordion Secret Boss Theme - Noah Geisler

At Wit's End - Hans Zimmer

A Friend Like Me (Electro Swing Remix) - Dave Wave

Sky Demon Boss Theme - Noah Geisler

Winged Hussars - Sabaton

The Lost Battalion - Sabaton

Misty Mountains - Colm Mcguinness

Soviet March (Red Alert 3 OST) Metal Cover - Vladimir Zelentsov

Star Wars: General Grievous Theme (EPIC RUSSIAN VERSION) - Samuel Kim Music

Star Wars Cantina Band (DJ AG Remix) - DJ AG

Count To Three - The Chalkeaters

世余威ノ宵　うたった - 【島爺／SymaG】

Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man

The Mandalorian OST - Main Theme

At Doom's Gate E1M1 - DOOM OST

BFG Division - Mick Gordon

Seven Nation Army (Glitch Mob Remix) - The White Stripes

GAS GAS GAS - MANUEL

Running In The 90's - Initial D

It Just Works - The Chalkeaters

Brittle Bones Nicky - Rare Americans

Brittle Bones Nicky 2 - Rare Americans

Rock It For Me - Caravan Palace

Sing Along - Sturgill Simpson

Beatophone - Caravan Palace

Artiljerija - Bosnian War Song

Stick Up - Grandson

I Wanna Be Like You - Sim Gretina

Clap Your Hands - Parov Stelar

Natural - Imagine Dragons

Moskau - Dschinghis Khan

Hell March - Red Alert 3 OST

_______

Alright, that's it for now.

[arsonandhockey]

your favourite colour, the last song you listened to and your current fave TV show

thanks anon!

my favorite color is green 

the last song I listened to is the lost battalion by sabaton 

and my current favorite tv show is a toss up between letterkenny and what we do in the shadows 

ask me on anon 3 random things 

[technicallycleverdetective]

Catch up tag

Rules: tag 9 people you’d like to know better/catch up with.

I was tagged by @verecunda :D Thank you!

Last Song: Oh, what was the last song I listened to? I think it was The Lost Battalion from Sabaton. It was definitely Sabaton.

Last Movie: I haven’t seen a movie in so long *gazes out of window* I think it was Deepwater Horizon which was shown on TV. Man, I love that movie. I remember first seeing it at the cinema and being so amazed. It was possibly even better than I recalled.

Currently reading: I am re-reading Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson. At this stage it can no longer make me roar with laughter, but I am still very fond of it.

Currently watching: Hmm, assorted TV shows. I’m dipping in and out of Inspector Montalbano which I think is the closest to a series I’m following.

Currently craving: My creative mojo so I can do some writing.

Who would I like to know better? Let’s tag @sognare-tra-le-luci-di-roma, @laqueus, @lainewasalostsoultoo, @meanderingstream and @wedontgrowold. If anybody else wants to do it, please do :)

[dancing-coyote]

Sabaton for the music ask XP

Hmmm that’s a tough one since I don’t really have a whole favorite album, but “The Last Stand” has “Sparta,” “The Lost Battalion,” “Shiroyama,” “Winged Hussars,” and “Camouflage” so I guess it gets to take that honor :B

[happymetalgirl]

Sabaton - The Great War

Sabaton have been giving the metal world little power-metal-flavored war history lessons from the heart of Sweden since the early 2000's, and since refining and optimizing their style around the turn of the decade, they really haven't really altered their macho, fighting-spirit formula at all except to expand their history teaching to a YouTube history channel. Their approach to the genre has been predictable yet effective enough as long as the band enter the studio with a strong supply of musical ideas (as they never seem to be at a loss for lyrical subject matter (humankind wages a lot of war after all)). Anyway, the band's follow-up to 2016's The Last Stand focuses on World War I (called "The Great War" at the time before the sequel came out), and it's an interesting topic for them the focus on exclusively. The impact of World War I was significant not just for its span and wide involvement, but for the intense, lasting psychological damage inflicted through the militaristic innovations that made trench warfare so nightmarish. Being that Sabaton usually try to find the moments of glory and valor in mankind's most overt expression of violence, something as grim and horrifying as the western front trenches and the fields of Paschendale are certainly tough to highlight the admirable parts of. But Sabaton are masters of this now, and the combination of inspiring guitar riffs, dramatic orchestral elements, and Joakim Brodén's powerful operatic low-end singing do as effective of a job as ever of spotlighting the sliver lining of the first world war. I really like the guitar leads and the invigorating gang vocals that set the stage on the opening track, "The Future of Warfare" and the choir supplementation on the inspirational "Devil Dogs" and the title track. The song" 82nd All the Way" narrates the charge of Alvin York's battalion through more inspirational vocal and guitar melodies, and "The Red Baron" makes great use of synth backing to its narration of WWI aerial dogfights. The couple of drier songs like "The Attack of the Dead Men" and "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" fall a little flat mainly due to the simple, avoidable deficiencies like less energetic performances and dull writing. I mean Sabaton and power metal in general get shit for being cheesily over-the-top and theatrical, but when we see what happens when the band turn down the gratuitous glory, it's no wonder they and their compatriots usually strive to keep it high and dramatic rather than forcing variety. Fortunately this album's main drawback is the homogeneity that fans already welcome or are used to or that has already pushed away the band's detractors. Most of the songs are up to code to be worthy of their presence on this album, and the band's performances do well to draw out and highlight the courage and heroism of one of the most psychologically damaging wars in history. Given what expectations Sabaton have set up for themselves, I'd say this album certainly lived up to them, riding on par with the past several Sabaton albums. Stylistically, sure, it's rather played out, but the band do come through with enough compositional ideas and plenty of gusto to stick yet another landing.

Charge!/10

[clawcommanderabsinthe]

2?

1: Ghost Division - Sabaton

2: Take me Home, Country Roads

3: Panzer Battalion - Sabaton

4: Camouflage - Sabaton (cover)

5: The Last Battle - Sabaton

[nuclearblastuk]

The Bards’ Tales: A Blind Guardian Chronicle

Blind Guardian are one of those bands which you will not have gotten far into heavy metal without coming to know. You will have seen their records in shops. You will have seen their logo on the fronts of t-shirts, on the backs of hoodies, or proudly stitched into a denim vest. You might have heard their music played in rock and metal bars. You may even have caught a glimpse of them performing live from far across a festival-ground somewhere. To many the music and imagery of Blind Guardian epitomises the power metal style, and while it is fair to say that Rainbow and Iron Maiden are the real progenerators of the power metal aesthetic, Blind Guardian certainly codified many of the elements which you might hear in contemporary power metal titans and label-mates Battle Beast, Beast In Black, Rhapsody of Fire and Sabaton – high-register wails, fast and technical musicianship, symphonic layering and a conceptual approach to album arrangement and composition. To fans they need no introduction of course, but in celebration of their thirty-fifth year of making music and the remixed and remastered reissue series now available on Nuclear Blast, it seems only right to tell the chronicle of the Bards’ tales.

To see the full remixed and remastered reissue series:  nuclearblast.com/blindguardian-reissues All Blind Guardian albums are also available on picture-disc vinyl and on CD.

Our story begins in Krefeld, Germany (1985) where four young bards – Hansi Kursch, Andre Olbrich, Marcus Dork and Thomen Stauch - have just completed their first work under the name of Lucifer’s Heritage. As though caught under the spell of a premonition, that work was entitled Symphonies of Doom, foreshadowing a grand masterwork to be completed some three decades later by Hansi and Andre - the Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra’s Legacy of the Dark Lands. The opening song ‘Halloween’ would, in time, become ‘Wizard’s Crown’ and feature on the debut album Battalions of Fear. Marcus and Thomen would before long part company with Hansi and Andre - though Thomen would, of course, be soon to return. 

A second demo under the name of Lucifer’s Heritage would be put to tape a year later in 1986 - also called Battalions of Fear - in which Hansi and Andre were joined by Christoph Theissen and Hans-Peter Frey. All the songs on the second demo, with the sole exception of Gandalf’s Rebirth (which is now available on the remixed and remastered version), would in due course find their way onto the Bard’s debut album in a rerecorded form. These demos are notable for their musical acuity, in spite of the limited production facilities available to them; listeners today will recognise them as falling within the bounds of a fairly straightforward speed/thrash metal style, quite unlike the elaborate arrangements the Bards are known for today - though there is some indication of things to come amongst several of the high-fantasy themed tracks. Before long, of course, Lucifer’s Heritage would be no more. The Bards, unwilling to succumb to the beckoning evil of Black Metal record sales, cast off their Satanic moniker and – under the inspiration of another wandering troupe of bards, Fate’s Warning, took up the name Blind Guardian instead.

Battalions of Fear  (1988)

Battalions of Fear is the first album to bear the Blind Guardian name, and while for the most part it retains the speed and thrash metal techniques of the Lucifer’s Heritage demo tapes, it remains a distinctly Blind Guardian artefact - for it is in this second chapter of the Bard’s story that the Blind Guardian aesthetic is first established; the lustrous gold logo and hooded figures adorning the cover, the unapologetically grand narrative approach to storytelling through lyrics, and the utterly diverse selection of sources from which stories are told – from the enduring inspiration of Tolkein and Stephen King, to the passion of Christ and the Strategic Defense Initiative of the Reagan administration. Thomen Stauch returns to the fold on drums, while Marcus Siepen takes up rhythm guitar duties: this line-up would remain unchanged until 2006’s A Twist in the Myth, beyond what many would consider the ‘classic’ Blind Guardian period. There is much for latecomers to the Blind Guardian story to take from the Bard’s debut: it remains the purest expression of the speed and thrash metal influences which run at the core of the power metal sound which Blind Guardian were the first to forge, opens with fan-favourite and long running live-staple ‘Majesty’ and, for the adventurous, the current remixed and remastered version is appended with the Symphonies of Doom demo, featuring the Bard’s early tribute to Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

Follow The Blind  (1989)

Just as Battalions of Fear now concludes with a direct reference to Monty Python, the 1989 sophomore album Follow the Blind opens with one: Inquisition samples the monk’s chant from Monty Python and The Holy Grail (“Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem”) This sets the tone appropriately, for Follow The Blind sees the Bards shifting towards an even more heavily themed and thrash-orientated sound than on Battalions of Fear, apparently brought about by their exposure to U.S. thrash metal royalty, Testament, at the 1987 Dynamo festival. While the Bards’ consider this to be their weakest album as a result of the emphasis falling on musical intensity, fans who also share an affection for this heavier sound are unlikely to depart from Follow the Blind with any disappointment, especially from live staple Banish From Sanctuary and anthemic live sing-along Valhalla, whose studio-take features the stylings of Kai Hansen, of Helloween and Gamma Ray fame. Hansen would lend his talents to the next two Blind Guardian albums too, featuring on the songs ‘Lost in the Twilight Hall’, ‘The Last Candle’ and then‘The Quest for Tanelorn’. Curiously, at the time the Bards were reluctant to include Valhalla on the album, now a fixture and highlight of their live performances; much like Black Sabbath’s hit-single Paranoid, it was written towards the end of the studio session, and was only included to make up the running-time for the album. Revisiting Follow The Blind, dedicated Blind Guardian fans will find the Bard’s first references to fantasy writer Michael Moorcock (“Dammed for All Time” and “Fast To Madness” are based on characters from the Eternal Champion series) and another Stephen King inclusion (title-track “Follow The Blind” is based on the authors collaboration with Peter Straub, The Talisman.) However, listeners of all persuasions will find joy in the closing number, a medley of The Regent’s Barbara Ann and Little Richard’s Long Tall Sally; the very embodiment of the performer’s maxim, “Always leave them laughing.”

Tales from the Twilight World (1990)

While Battalions of Fear and Follow The Blind certainly laid the foundations for what would become Blind Guardian's signature sound, Tales From The Twilight Hall builds upon this groundwork substantially. Any pretentions the Bards might have had towards being just another speed/thrash metal band, with some classical and high-fantasy themes, are abandoned. This album is the start of what many would consider to be Blind Guardian’s golden-era, and with it perhaps even the genesis of the power metal style. The album’s cover art marks the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Andreas Marschall, who would create the iconic cover art for the next three studio albums too. In order to record this seminal album, the Bards constructed their own studio to spend more time working on it, and this time was indeed well spent: we can hear them, for the first time, embracing singalong choruses and rich storytelling verses from track-to-track and incorporating acoustic guitars and synthesized instruments in order to reify their world-building efforts. This album is not yet, however, a full-blown concept album - such as we will see later in the Bard’s tale. Rather, the album's diverse themes treat of Moorcockian characters, Gandalf's death at the hands of the Balrog, and subsequent reincarnation, and - supposedly - E.T. ("Goodbye my friend, goodbye!") The lighter-brandishing melodies of fourth track, Lord of the Rings, stand testament to the maturity of song writing which generally permeates this album. Had the Bards ended their journey at Follow The Blind, one might speculate that Blind Guardian would have been no more than a footnote in the grand heavy metal story: Tales From The Twilight Hall places them at the genesis of true fist-pumping dragon-riding power metal.

Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)

Succeeding the success of Tales From The Twilight Hall  is Somewhere Far Beyond, which largely reaffirms the originality and spirit of that breakthrough release. The cover art depicts a circle of time-travelling Bards - which would, in time, earn the band their nickname - assembled around a gyroscopic timepiece, establishing the tone perfectly for the distinctly modern stories which the Bard’s recount on this album: the science-fiction of the Replicant’s story in Blade Runner, a journey through the haunting, surreal world of Frost & Lynch’s Twin Peaks, in addition to the now familiar Tolkein, Moorcock and King inspirations. The album also features several bonus tracks: a cover of Queen’s Spread Your Wings, an escapist’s manifesto, Satan’s Trial By Fire, which tells the story of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bomb attacks as well as an alternative mix of Theatre of Pain from the album itself. This album is particularly notable for its widespread and international critical acclaim, reaching #1 in the Japanese charts. This chart-topping success in the East would beget the Tokyo Tales live album the following year.

Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)

Imaginations From The Other Side reiterates on the quasi-conceptual character of the two previous studio releases and, perhaps, ups the ante somewhat: the titular opening piece abstracts from particular imaginative stories and instead tells a story about imagination itself, referencing the childhood escapist-fantasies of The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Chronicles of Narnia. The album proceeds to tell the story of a child’s escape through a mirror to an Arthurian world of swords, dragons and crusades before being brought back to reality. This story is picked up again twenty years later on the Beyond the Red Mirror album, which tells the story of how the ‘other side’ has fallen into darkness, and the quest to find a way back. Imaginations From The Other Side is the last album to feature Hansi on bass, who would thenceforth give himself over entirely to vocal and lyric-writing duties. Two singles were released from the album, ��A Past and Future Secret’ and ‘Bright Eyes’ which would secure the Bard’s a wider listenership, introducing the music of Blind Guardian to the heavy metal world at large.

Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)

Blind Guardian’s conceptual inclinations reach an apex on Nightfall in Middle-Earth; a thoroughbred concept album from start to finish, telling a portion of the tale of Tolkein’s Silmarillion – middle-earth’s descent into the dark-age, preceding the events of The Hobbit. It is worthwhile to mention that the album antedates the Peter Jackson film-series by three whole years – the Bards were not riding in the wake of the Tolkein-wave of the early 2000s, but instead had helped to create it. Indeed, in a 1999 interview, Hansi intimated that – owing largely to the praise which Nightfall in Middle-Earth had received within the wider Tolkein fandom – there was some serious deliberation as to whether Blind Guardian might be involved in soundtracking the films. While this project would not - alas! - come to pass, Nightfall in Middle-Earth perhaps stands alone as a heavy metal concept-album adaption of Tolkein worthy of attention. The instrumentation, and arrangement around a core of scene-setting spoken samples, make this Blind Guardian’s most ambitious venture yet – both musically and thematically. This is the first album to be recorded entirely at Blind Guardian’s own studio, aptly dubbed the Twilight Hall Studios. It would not be remiss to say that Nightfall in Middle-Earth is an essential, if not the essential, Blind Guardian album.

A Night at the Opera (2002)

After the heavy-themes and grand-concept stylings of the four previous studio albums, the Bards change tack in an altogether dramatic fashion on A Night At The Opera, so called after the Queen album of the same name, itself named after a Marx brothers production. Just as Blind Guardian fans were beginning to know what to expect from the Bards, it’s as though they said - in true Monty Python fashion - “ ... and now for something completely different.” The result is an album which arguably owes more to the British variety-rock act than to U.S. speed and thrash metal. On this album we hear Blind Guardian at their most musically expansive, and correspondingly, the album marks a return to their earlier approach in which they broach an assortment of stories and themes, most notably: two tracks dealing with Cassandra and the Trojan war, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, the Nazi propaganda machine and the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s descent into a paranoid vision in which he is judged by saints. The galloping track ‘Battlefield’ has since earned the dubious honour of soundtracking the Heavy Metal edition of Adult Swim’s game Robot Unicorn Attack. The last of what most would consider to be the classic Blind Guardian period is marked by Live – a double-album comprised of recordings taken from their world tour, and the last before the departure of Thomen Stauch and their subsequent signing to Nuclear Blast Records.

Blind Guardian would go on to release three studio albums via Nuclear Blast, A Twist in the Myth (2006), At the Edge of Time (2010), Beyond the Red Mirror (2015) with their most ambitious project to date Blind Guardian’s Twilight Orchestra: Legacy of the Dark Lands due out on the 8th of November this year. The album is a direct sequel to - and not the soundtrack of -  fantasy author Markus Heitz’s bestselling novel Die dunklen Lande (’The Dark Lands’) and will be a Blind Guardian first insofar as it features no electric guitars! You can pre-order the Nuclear Blast mail-order exclusive edition via this link: https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/products/tontraeger/vinyl/vinyl-boxset/blind-guardian-s-twilight-orchestra-legacy-of-the-dark-lands-mailorder-edition.html

 - written by Jack Moar (jack.moar@gmail.com)

[rainydawgradioblog]

Rainy Dawg Radio’s Best of the 2010s!

ALBUMS

Palberta - Bye Bye Berta

Palberta is a band that somehow manages to scratch almost every musical itch I have. Nowhere else have I heard a band successfully hold three part harmonies over squeaky atonal guitar riffs and abstract drum thrashing. Although I wouldn’t categorize them as twee, noise rock, post-punk, indie pop, no-wave, or any other genre name for that matter, they distill everything I love from all these types of music and mush it into something beautifully stinky. In my eyes, their 2017 album Bye Bye Berta stands as the definitive statement of what Palberta’s all about. With 20 tracks clocking in at under half an hour, the album wastes no time on filler. Skronky punk riffs burst apart at the seams and a sweet little lo-fi love song comes out of the wreckage, only to be replaced by an abstract tape sample collage. The band also has an incomparable mastery over lyricism, as evidenced by such classics as Finish My Bread (Finish my finish my finish my bread, finish my finish my finish my bread, etc…) and Trick Ya (HEY! Don’t trick me, I’m gonna trick you! HEY! Don’t trick me, I’m gonna trick you!). Highlights include the endearingly ramshackle and stupid pretty “Honey, Baby” and their cover of “Stayin’ Alive” (Jenny’s eating burgers and everybody’s shakin’ and stayin’ alive!)

- Elliott Hansen

Alex G - DSU

Shit if you know me you know I live for that sad bastard indie music. That’s exactly what DSU does best. Probably my most played record of the 2010s, this album’s lo-fi indie rock overfloweth. The opener, After Ur Gone, is on the noisier side of the album’s spectrum along with the squealing guitar of Axesteel and Icehead (peep the scream vocals in his live performances), while songs like the instrumental Skipper exemplify why Frank Ocean tapped Alex for the Self Control riff on Blonde. The emotional core of the record, Sorry, gets right back to the Elliott Smith comparisons that we know and love: lyrics of trauma, drugs and apologies included. My favorite song is Harvey; it smacks me right in the younger brother emo spot, with “run my hands through his short black hair I say / ‘I love you Harvey I don’t care’”. While not as chaotic as House of Sugar, twangy as Rocket, or psychedelic as Beach Music, this record is Alex G comfort music at its finest.

- Max Bryla

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Picture this: J Dilla, Madlib, and Aphex Twin all come together to create an album with little more than some old Coltrane records and an original Xbox at their disposal. The end result is like a trip through the universe. Yet the album comes from the mind of a single individual, who sits in the cockpit with a mischievous grin on his face: Steven Ellison, known professionally as Flying Lotus. The opening track, ‘Clock Catcher’, feels like Ellison slamming his foot onto the ignition so hard that it snaps out of place, shooting into the heavens at the speed of light before the listener can even strap in. Whirling through the stars, the rest of the album is the journey home from the expanse, often melancholic, often wondrous, always changing. From the punchy, off-kilter rhythms of tracks like ‘Nose Art’ and ‘Computer Face//Pure Being’ to the fat synth melodies of ‘Dance of the Pseudo Nymph’, ‘Recoiled’, and ‘Do The Astral Plane’, Flylo is always striking the listener from a different sonic vantage point. You can tell he’s having the time of his life with each of these songs, wanting to share every bit of it with our eardrums. After countless listens, I’m still finding new things about this album to appreciate. A complete masterpiece of cosmic epiphany fuel.

- Trey Marez

Ott. - Fairchildren

People throw so much music at me. And I remember this album was recommended to me back in high school, and I listened to it for the first time in zero-th period -- I think it was someone who went by the name “phryk” on IRC. And dang, it’s still such a good album! In what sense? It’s so well-mixed; that’s the first part. Secondly, it is just a wonderful listening experience from start to finish. If you need a good album of reggae, dub, electronic, here it is. One thing you shouldn’t do with this album: use it to test out speakers at Goodwill. The bass of this album was so good that I bought home a pair of speakers that turned out to be so bad.

- Koi Nil

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy

Bandcamp has been known for hosting some of our wildest dreams this decade, and when 2011 lobbed William Toledo’s first rendition of Twin Fantasy down my ears my life changed. Emotions are crushed to death in the back of parking lots, the lo-est of fi’s, and lyrics that trigger far and melancholy memories of the early 2010 zeitgeist swarmed with insecurity and Skype calls. The album is Toledo’s first cohesive piece, finally creating work with developed central themes, dedicating the first concept album of his life to falling in and consequently out of love. The album speaks as a mirror to itself, reflecting Will’s own joy and confusion towards falling conservatively and completely in love, until the sobering downward spiral back into isolation. I was only eleven when I let the album own me completely, and am only nineteen as I hold onto it for dear life. Twin Fantasy was never a perfect album, and Toledo recognized this as he re-released Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) in 2018, reinventing the album’s sound with a much higher fidelity, lyrical updates, and redone instrumentals that turn the original into an overture or prologue to be enjoyed separately for more context. Searing solos, cute doo-wop moments, sentimental lyrics, slap-happy drums, fish wearing business suits, dogs, coming out over Skype, smoking, not smoking, nice shoulders, waitresses, the Bible, the ghost of Mary Shelley’s frankenstein, cursive, they might be giant’s rip offs, not knowing SHIT about girls, stealing alcohol from our grandparents and grandparents, bruised shins, cults, fish, getting the spins, and being really really really sensitive to the sunlight. I’d fight for this album, listening to “Cute Thing” as I get RKO’d. Take the time to enjoy the ride, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. (It technically used to be a gay furry album, but now it’s techincally a straight trans furry album.)

- Cooper Houston

Sabaton - The Last Stand

Sabaton is every history teachers dream band. These Swedish power metallers educate the listener about the history of war by discussing various battles, conflicts, and figures. They do this through anthemic choruses, riffs that make your fist pump, and oddly enough synths that work surprisingly well. Since history interests me and I really like metal, Sabaton was pretty much made for me. This album will always have a soft spot in my heart and evoke fond memories as it was one of the first CDs I picked up after getting my license back in 2016. As I gained more independence and freedom as I approached adulthood, this was my soundtrack. This album lived in my CD player during this time as I listened to it over and over again, never once losing its replayability. Ranging from the American battalion that got lost in the Argonne Forest during WWI to Allied and Axis forces joining together to fight at the end of WWII, this album tells of various historical last stands. While this is certainly isn’t the best metal release of the decade, it’s still an extremely solid album. In this case, the sentimentality plays a larger role than anything. While it may not be found on any “Best Album of the Decade” lists, Sabaton’s The Last Stand will always hold a place in my heart and in my car’s CD player.

- Jack Irwin

CONCERTS

07/20/19: What the Heck? Fest @ Croatian Club, Anacortes, WA

Choosing a single favorite concert from the entire past decade seemed insurmountable until I decided to define it by the overall experience rather than exclusively the music. This past summer, I was lucky enough to be one out of barely over a hundred people at the first What the Heck? Fest in 8 years. The festival took place annually from 2001 to 2011, featuring PNW indie legends, K records icons, and all manner of dorky indie folk kids. WTH laid dormant until this past spring, when Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) announced its return along with the revival of his long-dead initial moniker, the Microphones. I made the trip up from Seattle alone by train and bus, spent a little while wandering Anacortes (the Business was closed :( ) and made my way to the repurposed church which houses the Unknown and the Croatian Club. I ended up seated a few feet from Calvin Johnson in one direction and Kimya Dawson in another. I felt a little out of place at times, like a stranger in the middle of a 90s indie family reunion, but the atmosphere remained consistently welcoming. D+ opened the show, fronted by Bret Lunsford (formerly of Beat Happening), the founder and main organizer of WTH, and backed by Phil Elverum and Karl Blau, who played their own sets later in the night. K Records mainstays Lois and Mecca Normal were on next, delivering stripped down, socially-driven whisper punk/indie pop. Karl Blau led an outdoor sing-along and covered a Pounding Serfs song, who played the next set (their first in [a lot of?] years) for a total of two renditions of “Slightly Salted,” a song I could have listened to in every set that night. Phil hopped back onstage again alongside Lee Baggett to back Kyle Field from Little Wings, an indie-folk favorite of mine, with rambly half-nonsensical lyrics and plenty of soft strummed warm twangly guitars. Black Belt Eagle Scout delivered (comparatively) heavier sounds, coupling slow, soft sung melodies with fuzzed out shoegaze tones, building tension until the Microphones (Phil backed by Kyle, Karl, Lee and keyboardist Nicholas Krgovich) came out for the final set of the night. They opened with what I interpret as a 25-minute rendition of the then-unreleased Belief, which was later shortened to 7 and a half minutes as the opener to the new Mount Eerie record, Lost Wisdom pt. 2. Phil then played a handful of old Microphones tracks alone, including a version of The Glow pt. 2’s title track with reworked lyrics, as well as its closer, My Warm Blood, excerpts from the final Microphones album (confusingly titled Mount Eerie), and what I believe to be another unreleased song. I left with the most limited merch I’ve ever managed to snag: one of two Ziploc bags of lettuce with “the Microphones” and a small K records logo sharpied on the front. I felt bad eating my merch, but it sustained me through the cold Anacortes night as I wandered to and from poorly lit parks, killing time until my 4AM bus back to Seattle.

- Elliott Hansen

03/09/19: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Solo) @ Vermillion Gallery, Seattle WA

Was really not sure what to expect from this one going in, but CYHSY’s s/t from 2005 has always been one of my favorite records. I hadn’t ever been to Vermillion in Capitol Hill, but it was hosting CYHSY on a “living room tour”, where Alec Ournsworth (vox, guitar, harmonica[!]) hit tiny spaces around the country. Vermillion sat 40 at most, and I got to check out some cool local art in the space as well. Alec’s trademark voice that (according to p4k) sounds “as if someone were pressing his vocal cords to a fret board and bending them” which is pretty damn accurate. Amongst CYHSY’s greatest hits (In This Home On Ice and Cool Goddess in particular), he also covered Pixies and Tom Waits through lively and exciting banter. Great dude, great music, great venue. My favorite of the 2010’s for sure.

- Max Bryla

11/14/18: Milo @ Vera Project, Seattle, WA

Milo, and the ruby yacht house band are poetic alchemists that constantly dish out hefty servings of succulent syllables with each new release. Kenny Segal who does the beats for a few of Milo’s songs (and other hip hop artists) opened by transporting the crowd into the ethereal realm with a few classics from his album: happy little trees. Once Kenny Segal finished, Milo accompanied by the ruby yacht house band jumped on stage. I was close enough that I could make out Milo’s squirtle tattoo on his bicep and waited for his vivid and veracious vocabulary to leave me in a state of decapitation. Crispy, potato chip like static (a Milo-live signature) was consumed ferociously by the crowd as he hit us with one banger after another. About halfway through the set Milo dropped the mic and went off stage into the back room. The ruby yacht house band was left Milo-less; their beat lingering in the air, festering with each hit of the snare. Milo returned a while later, wielding a pair of tap dancing shoes in one hand and a ukulele in the other. He put on the tap dancing shoes on stage, everyone in the audience screaming with his return. Donned with the tap dancing shoes and positioning his ukulele on his chest; he began to dance. Holy shit he was good too. Strumming the uke and tap dancing away I was utterly mesmerized. My eyes glued to his performance. Suddenly, as if stricken by some divine intervention, Milo seized the ukulele by the neck and smashed it against the ground, splintering into a thousand pieces. After his destructive fit, he picked the microphone back up and whispered into it emotionlessly: “Think about that”. I did. The whole experience was transcendental and instantly triumphed as my greatest concert of the decade. You KNOW I snagged a sliver of uke on my way out.

- Rocky Schaefer

08/07/17: Metallica @ CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA

While Metallica has had its ups and downs throughout their career, they do one thing well, and that is putting on a damn good live show. Metallica built the best line-up I have ever seen, given the popularity of the bands they chose. With them they took Avenged Sevenfold, who I greatly dislike but are still a huge band, and Gojira, one of the best modern death metal bands on the scene. The sheer size of this concert was absolutely and extremely inspiring as Metallica was able to fill up CenturyLink Field, a venue usually reserved for pop artists who draw in thousands of attendees. The amount of people that attended signaled to me that metal is far from dead. While this tour was in support of their newest album Hardwired to Self Destruct, Metallica made sure to incorporate classics into their setlist including “Seek and Destroy,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Battery.” James, Robert, Kirk, and Lars delivered a killer concert will tight playing and outstanding individual performances. Being able to see my music hero, James Hetfield, play live was truly a special experience. The one thing that stood out during the performance were the visuals. Each song had a unique and individual video effect on the large screens behind the band which made each song special and memorable it its own way. While I wasn’t close to the stage by any means, the crowd interaction created a unique experience that made me feel much closer than I really was. This concert wasn’t just a concert, but also a life-changing experience. Seeing the band that truly got me into metal, the thing that I rest my individuality on, is something that defined the decade for me and will live with me forever.

- Jack Irwin

SONGS

“You Are Here” - Yo La Tengo

This one I don't think I can fully explain. By miles, this is my most played song of all time. It is the opener of Yo La Tengo’s 15th album, There’s A Riot Going On. The album, and song, starts with the meditative synth line that builds into a pulsing rhythm over the course of the first minute. The rhythm maintains through the rest of the song, as casual guitar strumming is added and another synth that doesn’t sound all that dissimilar to Jonny Greenwood’s Ondes Martenot. My favorite part of the song, though, are the drum fills of the latter half: they crash and roll like the ocean. With or without the title of the song, the audio conveys a degree of presentness and contentedness that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere quite yet. I’d recommend it.

[kasunex]

Sabaton in concert was fucking amazing. Attack of the Dead Men, Fields of Verdun, Great War, Resist and Bite, Price of a Mile, Primo Victoria, The Lost Battalion, Shiroyama, The Last Stand...

I mean, not only did they play my favorites from the new album, they also played two of my older favorites AND The Last Stand, the one I was most disappointed not to hear in 2016. Seriously, it was like friggin amazing. My only disappointment was the lack of Devil Dogs, which, being an American, I really figured would have been a given. But oh well. It was amazing, blew the last one I went to out of the water, and totally worth traveling like 4 hours.

[eirianerisdar]

Waiting in the Quiet, Part 1

Summary: Gren, from his first meeting with General Amaya to the end of Season 1 of The Dragon Prince. This first chapter deals with the beginning of their friendship and Gren’s increasing fluency in sign language. There will be other chapters following! I’ve already written all of chapter 2. Can’t help it; The Dragon Prince consumed me whole.

Rating: K+

Chapter Index for Waiting in the Quiet

Chapter 1: The Diplomat and the Commander

Newly-minted Second Lieutenant Gren turned up on the first day of his assignment to the Standing Battalion alone, on horseback, ginger hair smashed into a chaos of spikes by wind and gale, new, unstained armour sitting on his shoulders with the unfamiliar ease of something trained into him, and not out of long practice.

He saluted the sentry sharply as he rode up to camp, trying with difficulty to avoid staring at the bright crimson glow of the border just visible on the horizon; the river of molten rock that belched gases and consumed men whole, as the horror stories children shared between themselves said, back home in the provincial towns.

“Fresh out of training, are we?” the sentry said, his battle-worn pauldron shifting on his shoulder as he broke the wax seal of Gren’s letter. The markings on his armour marked him a Second Lieutenant.

Gren nodded once, a hand on the helmet on his hip. He had not read the letter, of course; but he hoped that he could at least present himself in a manner that showed more than his eighteen years. It certainly didn’t help that his freckled cheeks and cheerful demeanor often had fishwives back home thinking he was three years younger than he really was.

The sentry’s lips twitched, pulling at the scar that ran across his chin. “You must have been quite the hotshot at the academy,” he said. “You’ve been assigned to Commander Amaya. That doesn’t usually happen right off the bat for fresh graduates.”

Something in Gren’s stomach leapt into the air and proceeded to hurtle through the stratosphere, screeching all the way.

Commander. Amaya.

Legend on the battlefield. Sister to the Queen. Keen of eye and steady of hand, single-handedly held countless border skirmishes against the forces of Xadia–

“Really?!” came the squeak before Gren could stop it; he winced and snapped his mouth shut.

“Really,” the sentry deadpanned, grinning at Gren’s obvious surprise. ��Try not to do that again, and especially not in front of the commander. Her tent is down that way. I assume you’ve been taught basic sign-language at the academy? Yes? Take the letter, introduce yourself, wait for her orders.”

“Yes, sir,” Gren replied, taking back the letter with numb fingers. Clicked his tongue. Nudged his horse down the row of tents.

Commander Amaya.

On the day of Gren’s graduation, his barrack-mates back at the training academy had marveled over his assignment to the Standing Battalion; an elite force on the border itself, well over a day’s ride from the capital. And what was more – it was where the sister to the Queen chose to remain, year after long year. Commander Amaya held the border, the people often murmured, while her sister Queen Sarai commanded the home forces; both devastatingly precious to Katolis itself. It was even rumoured that the commander would be given commission as General soon. The war demanded it, and her talents were more than suitable. If she was made General, she would be the youngest ever to reach that rank.

But never had Gren expected that he would be personally assigned to–

And then he saw her.

She was sitting before her tent – made of equally unassuming canvas just like the hundreds of others around her – and the soothing rasp of stone on metal filled the air as she ran a whetstone over her the blade balanced over her armoured knee.

Her hair was cut short, as he had heard, and fell in a sharp line on her left almost to the angle of her jaw. On her right, it barely touched the top of her ear. Her face was unmarked, except by the faint red tint of the winds that so howled at night across the borderlands here – but there was such an smooth, curled grace to her movements that she seemed at any moment able to leap into action, a figure of lethal grace.

And then she noted the shadow of horse and rider that skirted in front of her sabatons, and looked up.

And Gren became aware that he was staring.

He got off his horse. Quickly, too.

She was regarding him with a cool raised eyebrow, a flicker of something else in her eyes. It might have been humour, but it was gone too quickly for Gren to decipher.

Gren bowed, left hand to his chest as he had been taught in the academy, and held out his commission letter with his right.

A scratched bracer entered his field of vision. Accepted the letter.

Gren took it as his cue to straighten and stand at parade rest.

The commander’s eyes flickered over his parade-perfect posture once more as she perused the letter. A smile – a true smile, Gren was sure of it now, full of wicked mischief – curved across her face, and she rose, set the letter aside, and raised her hands.

Every single sign language lesson he had ever attended at the military academy flashed through Gren’s mind in that one moment, and he found himself suddenly sure that it was not enough.

“Introduce yourself,” the commander signed, hands nimble and strong even in layers of gauntleted metal and thick leather.

Right. He could do that – that was the first lesson one ever learnt in sign language, after all. “My name is Gren,” he replied, fingers horribly slow and encumbered in his new armoured gloves. “Second lieutenant. At your service. It’s an honour.”

He is sure he garbled that last bit a little, but the commander nodded, seemingly unsurprised at his struggle, and continued, “The academy says you–”

And just like that, he was lost. Embarrassingly so. His eyes darted between each sign without comprehension.

Gren opened his mouth automatically. Closed it again, brought up his hands–

But the commander had already held up a hand to still his motion, and reached for the parchment and ink set to the side with the other.

Gren blinked. He had not even noticed it was there.

She held up a line of writing.

The academy says you’re quite the diplomat.

Her handwriting was terrible, and Gren remembered something someone had told him when he was younger – how those with quick minds had the messiest writing. At that time hadn’t known if it was a jab at his own perfect calligraphy – he had hobbies, and calligraphy was one of them – but the commander’s chicken scratch was just so…her.

“Thank you. Yes, I try.” Gren replied, forcing his hands to move faster. Mentally, he kicked himself; he should have known to practice more in armour. What did he think he would be wearing to battle – leather tunics and thin gloves?

Find the quartermaster. He’ll assign you to a tent. You may join training drills after midday meal.

He snapped to attention. “Yes, sir!” he said, with his voice and hands.

The commander’s smile widened imperceptibly, and she penned another line. She narrowed her eyes, clapped him on the shoulder once, and held up the parchment.

Later, Gren would look back on that moment and realise that he was not quite sure if she was going to kill him or not (and part of him wasn’t even sure if he minded if she did) but even as his head screamed at him to look at the weight on his shoulder (because Commander Amaya was touching his shoulder the legend was touching his shoulder what should he DO), sense won over and he looked at her words instead.

And loosen up, soldier.

“Yes, sir,” he said immediately, snapping to attention again, before blinking and realising that actually, no, that was the exact opposite of what she said to do–

She caught his frozen expression and laughed once.

And Gren just–

Forgot to think.

Didn’t think, even as he bowed his leave and led his horse away by the reins. Her laugh was a bright, shining thing, a roar more than anything, that the ladies of court would call boisterous with disapproving sniffs, and men would call hearty; a soldier’s confident laugh. It was musical, but not in that flute-like way he’d heard men back home speak of sweethearts’ laughter; it was more like the call of a war horn than a silver flute.

It was a laugh that was not diminished by constricting things such as propriety, because Commander Amaya couldn’t hear it for herself and likely wouldn’t have cared what people would have said even if she could.

And it suited Commander Amaya perfectly.

That afternoon, after he was settled and his horse watered, he stood in a ring of fellow soldiers and watched as the commander pounded a half-dozen men into the dust.

At once.

With nothing but her gloved fists.

And then she straightened and began systematically deconstructing each participant’s mistakes with an encouraging expression and hands that flickered between sign language and parchment, when the explanations got too complicated for the soldiers’ limited vocabulary.

Gren watched, slack-jawed. Commander Amaya was…wow.

Right, so Gren might have been a little starstruck.

And then–

And then she spied him in the crowd, held out a gloved hand, and beckoned him once, a clear challenge in her eyes. The gathered soliders exploded into good-natured teasing at their newest recruit.

What.

A heavy hand thumped into Gren’s back. “It’s tradition! Newest recruit gets to spar the Commander!”

Gren’s disbelief distilled itself into something more like pure, ice-fed fear. Edged with not a little awe and exhilaration.

Okay. Right. He was doing this. Granted, he was probably going to die doing so (the second time he contemplated his mortality in the past hour, no less) but what a way to go, right?

A dulled practice sword was pushed into his hand. Gren hid his expression by squashing his helmet onto his head; the Commander remained helmet free, dark hair stirring in the wind, a wicked smile of challenge on her lips as she tested the weight of her own dulled blade.

Gren settled into ready position, brought his blade up to guard, blinked once–

And he was suddenly flat on his back in the hard-packed dirt, ears ringing, the breath driven out of him all at once.

Dragon. Spit.

He had the sudden and very bizarre urge to laugh through the bruise that must be forming on his chest.

Commander Amaya was amazing. Astonishing. Astounding. Awe-inspiring. And those were only the adjectives beginning with A–

Gren yanked off his helmet, wheezed into the cool air. The Commander was crouched at his side, a knowing grin on her lips. She signed something – a word he saw, barely an hour ago.

Ah. The colour rose in his cheeks, turned his ears the shade of his hair.

“A diplomat, indeed. On your feet.” She completed the last word, extended a hand to him.

He took it, surprised when she reached further and turned it to a soldier’s forearm grasp, and allowed her to pull him to his feet.

Her eyes were warm and firm like a summer storm, and it was only as Gren stood opposite her with their hands in a warrior’s hold that he knew, suddenly, that there was more to her than the sharp flicker in her eyes – that one could understand her further than the simpler shapes of her signs.

And yet, here, no one did; each soldier knew enough sign language to understand battlefield commands and basic military terms, but not enough to understand her. Not truly.

Commander Amaya, whom Gren was suddenly quite sure that he would wholeheartedly die for.

Her eyebrows rose as she watched his face.

He schooled his expression before the thought made its way there, but as their hands loosened and their forearms slipped away from under leather gloves, Gren was struck by the complete and utter determination that he had to do better.

In a camp such as this, there had to be at least one book on sign language.

If there wasn’t, he was spending his first self-earned coin on procuring one. As soon as possible.

It was hard work. Gren practiced each word and each phrase again and again, first with his hands free and unfettered by gloves and armour, and then again with his arms weighed down by bracers and gauntlets, fingers and wrists dull and frustratingly clumsy at first and then slowly slipping into the supple grace that the commander’s hands had as they spoke. Gren lost count of the number of long nights he spent huddled in his tent in front of a guttering tallow candle, squinting at the tiny letters and detailed diagrams until his eyes grew gritty. During the day he watched the Commander speak as often as possible, traced the shapes and movements of her hands with sharp, blue eyes. The way she spoke was beautiful – fluid and graceful, like the way she fought.

And then came the day he realised he could learn this new language well enough in theory, but there was no possibility of fluency until he had enough practice.

Which only meant one thing.

His calligrapher’s hand and diplomat’s way of putting words (if he wished) had granted him an irreplaceable position at battalion command (or a nicer way of saying he was very, very good at paperwork) and so, a day or so after his new resolution, he found himself giving a report to Commander Amaya as to the progression of documents for the king.

The Commander glanced over his desk as she swept back the flap of the command tent and strode over to him – likely looking for a written report. Finding none, she raised her head and skewered him with those clear, intelligent eyes that Gren always found a challenge to meet – electrifying and terrifying all at once.

Gren gulped once, stood, and raised his hands.

“The documents are progressing ahead of schedule,” he said, hands faltering once as they skipped between a sign before soldiering on. “However, I’m sure you’re aware of the political component regarding our recent combined exercises with the Southern Guard, and I thought that we might take more care over the wording regarding those, in case the King chooses to share the report with any of his advisors.

There had been a curve to corner of the commander’s lips as Gren began to speak, but now the grin reached her eyes; she halted him with a raised hand. “You’ve been practicing,” she said, hands moving with that grace that Gren had so come to love watching; words formed into dance, just as spoken speech was a song.

He nodded. “But I think I need more.” He hoped she would understand his unspoken question.

His hopes were dashed. She did understand, but she was not letting him off the hook that easily. She raised an eyebrow, expectantly.

Gren met her steady gaze with his own exhausted one, and thought, Very well, then.

He thanked hours of practice that his hands were steady as he asked, “If I could make a request, sir. Would it be alright if you helped me practice?”

The commander nodded, and said, almost too fast for Gren’s tired eyes to follow, “Evening meal. You know the fire-pit I favour?”

Gren nodded. The adrenalin was draining out of him; his legs started to feel more like jelly than anything.

“Meet me there. We can discuss your accent, and more.”

Gren blinked, hands falling to his side. I have an accent?

“Yes you do,” the commander said, and Gren added mind-reading to the list of things Commander Amaya could apparently do. “I’ll see you then.”

And then she was gone again.

The tent flap swung shut behind her.

Gren realised, belatedly, that the entire tent was staring at him.

He sat down in a flurry of armour and buried himself in his paperwork, ears burning.

“You up to mischief?” Corvus teased as he passed by, young face smiling, and Gren denied his friend an answer; doing so would only invite more teasing.

His stomach did not stop flipping until dusk.

It became a nightly ritual, their conversations over evening meal. Meals this far out near the border were simple things; pieces of meat fried on hot stones pushed near the fire-pits, simple stews from rare game hunting parties encountered in the wilds.

They spoke of the practical side of things, at first; refining Gren’s signing, teaching new words. And then as Gren’s fluency improved, they began to speak other things – Gren’s childhood home, their shared preference for wind and sky, Amaya’s fiery resolve to serve Katolis born of her love for her sister; conversations that only they could understand, the two people most proficient in their language in the entire camp. Amaya had parchment and ink at her side their first few meetings, but as Gren’s hunger for new words and new expressions increased, and their conversations picked up speed, the parchment more often than not remained untouched on the log she sat on.

If anyone ever asked him afterward, Gren never could quite point out when she became Amaya to him, and not the commander; now he never saluted her beyond a perfunctory nod when he showed up to their fire-pit bearing that evening’s food, and she never expected him to call her sir.

People whispered curiously at first when it became apparent that this would become a habit of the two of them.

“What were you talking about?” Corvus called once as Gren moved past him to scour his and Amaya’s finished bowls with sand.

“Oh, anything and everything,” Gren replied. “She’s so amazing to talk to, and there’s so much she’s seen.”

“You’re shaping up to be quite the fluent sign language speaker.”

“Not quite, but I plan to be,” Gren murmured. “Eventually.”

And so the months swept by. Their conversations grew more complex and more often than not left them laughing – Amaya’s laughter her true voice, and Gren so adored it for its candor.

And then there were the times that Amaya and most of the camp would ride away to war; sometimes Gren accompanied them, and sometimes not, but even if he did go he remained in the temporary camps behind the battlefield itself; he was not a combatant.

Those days he waited for the carrion birds to start to descend over the horizon; and then watched for the sight of Amaya’s banner over the crest of the hill, a tightness in his chest he could not explain until he saw the battalion return, triumphant.

The nights grew longer, and the days shorter; midwinter approached. Gren became attuned to Amaya’s way of speech, the tone in her words; how the smallest lift of her eyebrow or tilt of her shoulders could mean an entire different emphasis, how the simplicity of certain words in sign language did not impede her when she meant to sign a synonym that she did not bother to spell, not when Gren could understand her meaning so clearly.

But as the days grew colder, Gren often woke with half-frozen hands; he was grateful for his fur-lined under-armour gloves from his hometown tailor, whose work was self-proclaimed “the best in all of Katolis”. Gren’s fingers usually regained their dexterity in minutes, as long as he warmed them by a fire-pit before putting on his gloves.

Amaya, he noticed, had taken to blowing on her hands when he was speaking during their conversations; her gloves were of fine make and no doubt fur-lined as well, but seemed to work rather less well than Gren’s did. Her signing was not slow in the slightest, but there were moments where he noticed a lack of the liquid motion that her signed voice should have.

And so, as midwinter approached, Gren was left with a dilemma.

But really, it was not a dilemma at all; what was half a month’s pay so that his commander could speak?

He put in the order with the next departing rider, and pocketed his – rather lighter – coin pouch without the slightest regret.

Then he hastened back to his tent to retrieve one of Amaya’s spare gauntlets, which he had filched behind her back in order to take measurements from. If she found out she was likely to verbally flay him alive. Here he was, risking life and limb for a midwinter present, of all things – but it would be worth it.

The package came the afternoon of midwinter’s day, to Gren’s great relief. He checked that all was in order, re-bound the package, and tucked it under his cloak as he headed towards the fire-pits, where soldiers were huddled side-by-side in the wintry air. Snow had begun to fall; Gren’s boots crunched through a new white covering.

It was only as he spied Amaya’s distinctive silhouette sat before their preferred fire-pit did Gren realise that he had not really thought this through.

Did soldiers give each other presents for midwinter’s day?

Did…junior officers give their superiors presents for midwinter’s day?

The thought was as jarring as it was sudden. He slowed. Stopped. Traced with his gaze the snowflakes settling on Amaya’s pauldrons; watched as she brushed the covering off and breathed over her hands, rubbing them together.

But friends did.

Friends gave each other presents for midwinter’s day.

That was enough.

Gren moved into the circle of firelight, and Amaya, noticing the new shadow at the periphery of her vision, shifted to the side to let him sit.

“Happy midwinter,” Gren said, once he had shook his hands free of his cloak.

“Happy midwinter,” she echoed, the corner of her mouth curving over her quick hands.

In the face of that almost-smile, Gren found himself grinning irresistibly as well; and, ever vigilant, Amaya noticed.

She raised an eyebrow and a hand. “What?”

Gren slipped the package out from under his cloak and held it out; she accepted it with curiosity in her gaze.

Amaya placed it on her lap so she could speak. “What is this?”

“A gift,” Gren replied.

He could see she is surprised now, though it was likely that none of the others nearby could see it; it was only Gren, who knew how each part of her expression and the smallest changes in the way she carried herself held meaning.

She untied the wrappings, and the surprise in her eyes melted into fond understanding as they settled on the gloves – fur-lined, close-stitched, and supple, yet tough enough to withstand years worn under armour.

Amaya raised her gaze to meet Gren’s, and he was suddenly hit with the urge to explain himself; he signed with such attempted speed that he slurred over the words like he had not done in months. “The winter has been growing colder and I noticed your gloves had grown worn and it was affecting your signing and I know a tailor back home so I thought you could do with some new–”

The last part was cut off as Amaya placed her new gloves to the side, reached out to still his hands, and very deliberately pulled him into a hug.

Gren forgot to breathe.

It was short thing, barely an instant; but her head fitted into the curve of the pauldron at his shoulder, and he hugged her back automatically before he really knew what he was doing, only that she was there and so was he, and his mind had temporarily lost all ability to function.

He hadn’t exactly forgotten that component of hero-worship that fired up within him on that first day.

But even through all the layers of armour, it was warm.

He remembered to breathe. Her armour smelt like dust and iron, and the battles he could only observe from afar.

She drew back, slipped off her old gloves, and pulled on the new ones. The leather gleamed as she signed, “Thank you, my friend.”

“You are welcome,” he returned, and pressed his hand to his chest as he inclined his head.

He had not ridden to the border expecting that Commander Amaya would become his closest friend, and he was willing to bet that she had not expected a green recruit to become her dearest friend, either.

But here, on midwinter’s evening, with warm stew in their bellies and good conversation in their hands, Gren could not imagine it any different.

Next chapter: Amaya comes to a realisation that Gren’s new sign language skills are invaluable, and with time, Gren realises something of his own.

I’ve already written the next chapter, and I’ll be posting in a day or so. Cross-posted to FFN!

Chapter 2

Chapter Index for Waiting in the Quiet

My fanfic masterlist

FFN profile and stories

[a-rebellious-waffle]

Challenge accepted. Character (well, characters) in question are my own; the 5th Mechanized 'Black Watch' Division and their Commander, Elizabeth 'Witch of the Fifth' Black.

Admittedly, some of the songs I'll be including in this list will bend the rules, so I'll mark those for you. I'll still have 20 songs that follow those rules, though. This list is going to roughly follow the arc of the book the characters are in.

---

The Valley of Death - SABATON

Soldier of Heaven - SABATON

Hill 3234 - SABATON

Death Squad - Perturbator

The Lost Battalion - SABATON

Turbo Killer - Carpenter Brut

Come With Me Now - KONGOS

Short Change Hero - The Heavy

(Rule-Bender) Never Fade Away - P.T. Adamcyzk and Olga Jankowska

Human - Rag'n'Bone Man

What's Up Danger - Black Caviar

Coat of Arms - SABATON

40:1 - SABATON

Seven Nation Army (Glitch Mob Remix) - The White Stripes

Keepers - StringStorm

The Future of Warfare - SABATON

Hellfighters - SABATON

Lamenters - StringStorm

Steal From The Rich, Give To Myself - Simon Viklund

Resist and Bite - SABATON

Lady of Worlds - Miracle of Sound

Rhana Dandra - StringStorm

Moonlight Blue - Miracle of Sound

Wings of Rage - StringStorm

Tallarn - StringStorm

Wake the White Wolf - Miracle of Sound

Counterstrike - SABATON

We Are War - Miracle of Sound

Stormtroopers - SABATON

Cadian Blood - StringStorm

Saboteurs - SABATON

Lilac and Violet - Miracle of Sound

(Rule-Bender) Empress of Light Theme (Remix) - Drayx

And, because this list wouldn't be complete without it:

Last Stand of the Black Watch - StringStorm

Total songs: 34 (32 with no rule-bending)

hello character playlist maker. i want to play a game. you must make a 20 song character playlist for any character of your choosing. but if you use any song by Mother Mother or Lemon Demon, the computer will explode. you have 30 minutes. make your choice.

[histories-and-mystery]

1-16

Oh! Sorry I didn’t respond earlier. Tumblr has been weird 

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?

I think it was my friendly Ravenclaw (you know who you are)

2. Are you outgoing or shy?

I’m kinda shy and cold at first but once you get to know me I’m pretty outgoing 

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Oh definitely my D&D group. They may drive me crazy and force my to change my plot a little but we have fun  

4. Are you easy to get along with?

I like to think so  after a while 

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

No

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

I like tall people  and people with accents. When it comes to personality all you have to do is be kind  like the things I like and have some of your own interests as well. Basically just be nice and your in the running 

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

No. Because that’s not how my life works 

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

A guy. Look I can’t like him though. He got in some drama with my theater fam and they are kinda mad at him and don’t want me to talk to him

 9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

Sometimes 

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

My  therapist and  @broadwaybooksandbagels

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

Oof

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? 

No mirrors in my nana’s house (sweet honey In the rocks), automatonic electronic harmonics (Steam powered giraffe), Resists and Bite (Sabaton), panzer battalion (Sabaton), Wolfpack (Sabaton)

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

Only sometimes and only  certain people 

14. How many people have you slept with?

0!!! Oh my gosh why would you ask that!

15. What good thing happened this summer?

I made art with my best friend and watched Disney movies 

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

I have not kissed anyone 

[grimoireemil]

zacksfairest replied to your post “Sabaton seems like a pretty good band. Starting to dig their stuff >:3”

i LOVE their stuff my fav songs of theirs are Resist and Bite, Screaming Eagles, The Lost Battalion, and THE LAST STAND IS SO GOOD

I really don’t know how I’ve not listened to them before XD but thanks for the suggestion!! I listened to the Lost Battalion too :D